That's great! Maybe the fountain of youth is just around the corner?

During sporulation, a gene called NDT80 was expressed. What's more, switching on NDT80 in ageing cells doubled their lifespan (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1204349). The closest relative of NDT80 in mammals is p53, a gene that regulates cell cycles. "We may have found a way to rejuvenate cells and erase ageing markers," says Amon.

Explanation: These bacteria could survive on another planet. In an Earth lab, Deinococcus radiodurans (D. rad) survive extreme levels of radiation, extreme temperatures, dehydration, and exposure to genotoxic chemicals. Amazingly, they even have the ability to repair their own DNA, usually within 48 hours. Known as an extremophile, bacteria such as D. rad are of interest to NASA partly because they might be adaptable to help human astronauts survive on other worlds. A recent map of D. rad's DNA might allow biologists to augment their survival skills with the ability to produce medicine, clean water, and oxygen. Already they have been genetically engineered to help clean up spills of toxic mercury. Likely one of the oldest surviving life forms, D. rad was discovered by accident in the 1950s when scientists investigating food preservation techniques could not easily kill it. Pictured above, Deinococcus radiodurans grow quietly in a dish.